I remember all the cool kids (har) did it one month during the summer and none of us were baptized at the time. What a ridculous waste of time that turned out to be.
If he said he "pioneered on sundays" he probably meant he went out in service on those days. And to mix up that phrase (thinking pioneering means knocking on doors) would mean he probably didn't go to meetings much, or wasn't all that involved.
I also think that the stories about him being a JW were hyped by JWs back in the day to make themselves feel better.
-Craig